Teachers, higher education administrators and financial planners are well acquainted with the work of TIAA-CREF. The insurance and investment company has been a central player in teacher retirement and financial planning for nearly a century. Twelve years ago, the organization spawned the TIAA-CREF Institute, a research-focused arm that brings…

Teacher benefits, once a sleepy question primarily of interest to actuaries, have become a flash point in the education debate. With individual states on the hook for tens or hundreds of millions in unfunded pension and health insurance obligations, state leaders are trying to determine the severity of the situation and the appropriate response.…

Something is wrong with tenure, and one needs to make it right. Abolishing it is not feasible, but it doesn't mean that one shouldn't at least consider changing some of the ways that tenure works. In this article, the author proposes that a better way to change tenure is to offer an implied contract of about 30 years. A 30-year contract would…

The concern that doctoral programs in the arts and sciences do not adequately prepare students for careers as faculty members is hardly a new one, but it has become urgent. Colleges and universities in United States are facing the impending retirement of large numbers of faculty members and need to replace them with qualified professionals, on or…

This article is a revised and abbreviated version of a session that the authors presented at the 25th annual Lilly Conference on College Teaching, November 19, 2005, in Oxford, Ohio. It arose from their joint conviction that while teaching is the greatest job in the world, teachers do not need to stay in it until death do them part. Beidler and…

This article presents an interview with Amy Lum Fern, Hawai'i Department of Education teacher from 1933 to 1972. Amy Lum Fern was born in Honolulu in 1909. She received her early education at Central Grammar School and later attended McKinley High School. After graduating from McKinley in 1928, she entered the University of Hawai'i, where she…

The tension at the heart of pension politics is the incentive to satisfy today's claimants in the here-and-now at the expense of long-term concerns. Rules and auditing standards are intended to tame this kind of short-sighted behavior in the private sector. In the public sector, the primary safeguard is the hope that public officials will not be…

This article presents an interview with Marion Frances Kaleleonalani McGregor Lee Loy who served as a teacher in the Hawai'i Department of Education from 1935 to 1974. Marion McGregor Lee Loy was born in 1911 in Honolulu. She attended Central Grammar and Lincoln Grammar schools before entering Kamehameha School for Girls in the ninth grade. Lee…

A town was in danger of losing an excellent teacher because of what many educators now call outdated state teacher retirement regulations. (MM)

Teachers need to be involved in making decisions about how their retirement money is being managed by their retirement system. (MM)

Fefferman argues that mandatory Social Security coverage for teachers and other government employees assures their own pension protection and equalizes their contributions with their potential Social Security benefits. Brundige feels that teachers already have superior retirement plans and should not be forced to bail out the ailing Social…

Describes the retirement pursuits of the author and includes a list of ten activities well-suited for retiring social studies teachers. Among the suggestions are: becoming an educational lobbyist promoting social studies, tutoring recent immigrants for their citizenship examinations, reading for the blind, and assisting colleges and universities…

Retirement can be a time of creativity and service to others. The Music Educators National Conference (MENC) is making it possible for retired members to continue their service to music, music education, and MENC. (Author/AM)

Examines a now common situation in which faculty members, in taking early retirement, create a pressing need for new faculty, which, in some cases, inflames long-standing disagreements among the department's current faculty. Explains how to negotiate the complexities of retirement in a way that minimizes tensions within a department. (TB)

Laurence J. Capellas, teacher, principal, and administrator in the Hawai'i Department of Education from 1935 to 1977. Laurence J. Capellas was born in 1913 in Hakalau to two Hawai'i island school-teachers. After attending Hakalau School, St. Mary's School in Hilo, and St. Louis College in Honolulu, he went on to the University of Hawai'i Teachers…